Stiletto Heels in a Quiet Room
by BithaBlu
Summary: Twenty drabbles for the IPod Challenge and ten additional drabbles for the IPod Challenge Remix. Warning: Contains a multitude of angst, oddness, implied sexual content, anti-Mary/Raphness and one character death scene.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: BendDontBreak started this insanity over on M_M and this last week has been chock full 'o' fun drabbles. I've done the regular challenge twice and the GreenStuff posted a second challege where we had to pick someone else's playlist and write ten more drabbles. So I've got thirty short pieces here and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.  
I'd also like to note that the title is from something R.R. wrote as a comment. Devil her due and all. Not saying that R.R. is the devil but what she writes is damn near sinful. ;)

**IPS DRABBLES**

**01. My Eyes- Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog**

"Why is that I always identify with the villains?" Mary asked as she snuggled closer to Marshall on the couch. It was a cold night and it was warmer under Marshall's arm than it would be under a blanket.

"Well, the psychological profiles of criminals and cops are remarkably similar. Perhaps it has something to do with an intense distrust of other people," Marshall suggested. He smiled at Mary's reaction to something on the screen and added, "Plus, the 'villain' is rather sympathetic in this."

Snorting, Mary grabbed for some popcorn, "You would feel sympathy for this guy."

"Of course. I like smartass criminals. Why do you think I like you so much?"

**02. I'll Attack- 30 Seconds To Mars**

The fight had started at it usually did but this was getting out of hand. Mary had been already irritable since she had come home from the hospital. Tomorrow she would be returning to work and Raph was _still_ trying to convince her to transfer to a different department. He had backed her into a corner with his favorite weapon- guilt. She had backed down time and time again but the rage was building in the corner of her mind.

But he just kept pressuring her again and again and, like a pot of water on the stove too long, the lid was about to blow. Mary could feel it. He was just a few short sentences from her losing it.

"Do you have to run out the door _every_ time Marshall calls?"

Scratch that. Just one sentence.

**03.** **Barbie Girl- Aqua**

Brandi stared at her reflection in the mirror. She had just gotten ready for her third date with Peter. Checking out herself in the mirror, a thought had struck her. It was- _what were they again_- oh yeah, an epiphany.

Maybe it was time to really focus on her studies. Maybe get a job. Maybe it was time to get into a grown-up relationship. Peter really was nice. And a good man. He was good for her. Maybe he'd help her grow up.

'_Jesus_,' she thought, '_It was time to grow up a long time ago.'_

**04. 45- Shinedown**

It had been two weeks since the shooting and Mary hadn't woken up yet. Marshall sat by her bed every night since sleep wasn't something that happened anymore. Memories kept him awake and guilt kept him here.

His life didn't feel the same anymore. Drowning in pain, Marshall could feel himself falling apart. His hobbies meant nothing. The job was just something to do during the day when Mary's family was here. The badge was just a shiny thing he kept with him.

Without Mary with him, it all seemed like a waste.

Maybe it was time to hand his gun over to Stan for a bit.

**05. Everwhere I Go- Hollywood Undead**

Bobby D hated breaking up rowdy parties as beat cop and he really hated them now. Cause it was one thing to send stupid kids running over fences but it was another thing to have to find out what happened when one of those kids wound up dead.

Interviewing drunk minors was the worst. They were still hopped up on whatever they had been taking so they were bold, brash, and inclined to throwing wobbly punches if the questions got too hard.

And it was so hard to not break fingers when they started flicking him off.

**06. Sharp Shooter- Gantz Soundtrack**

Mary and Marshall had been banned from shooting on the ABQ PD range together years ago. The epic shoot out had crossed all lanes and scared the hell out everybody who had been standing back. The game was a weird mix of lazer tag with real bullets and twister and no one wanted to be anywhere near the range when they showed up to play.

"Three- head!" Mary yelled as Marshall raced to the third lane and popped off a head shot.

"Six- right arm!"

Mary darted all the way down the lane muttering obscenities about him making her run.

"Five- nuts!"

Marshall froze to a stop on his way down to the fifth lane. "Now that's just mean. What did that paper man do to you?"

Mary crowed with laughter, "I win!"

**07. Criminal- Fiona Apple**

The bar was a haven for cops that had suffered through a bad day. It was dingy, dark and depressing enough in it's own right. No one smiled here.

As a rule, Mary avoided this bar like a plague. Her life was bad enough without all this. But when she couldn't find Marshall after he had left in the middle of a snarking battle, this was the last place she looked when she calmed down enough to feel bad about what she had said.

He was sitting at the bar nursing a tumbler of amber liquid and shame reached up and slapped Mary hard in the face. Marshall was the one constant positive thing in her life and she had driven him into a bottle again. She was close to breaking him for good and she couldn't even stop her mouth from spewing out shit like a broken sewer main.

Something needed to change and, for once, Mary thought it was her.

**08. Sober- Tool **

It was the seventh time in group therapy when Jinx realized that it wasn't all about her. The first week had been spent reflecting on how drinking had affected her life. The parties. The men. The wasted life at the bottom of bottles.

But when the dumpy woman from the room down the hall started talking about how her daughter and son were heading down her path and it was all her fault, Jinx realized how much Mary and Brandi had suffered from her selfishness.

Mary. Dear god. What had she done to her daughter? No wonder she was such a bossy know-it-all. Poor Mary. A grown-up by necessity at the age of seven.

And Brandi. Sweet little Brandi making all the wrong choices. Just like her mother.

Tears began to fall and they didn't stop.

**09. God's Gonna Cut You Down- Johnny Cash**

The desert sun beat down mercilessly on the two marshals and their prey. The car crash had sent all three people out on foot across the rocky terrain. Marshall and Mary followed the tracks with guns drawn. When they caught up to the criminal in a rocky outcropping, the idiot had taken a shot at Mary. What Jack hadn't realized was that she was intentionally drawing his fire.

Jack turned when he heard rocks tumbling. Behind him stood a man outlined by the setting sun. So entranced by the shadow in the sun, Jack never noticed when the man's gun rose.

His last thought was, _'I should never have tried to shoot her.'_

**10. Rev 22.20- Pucifer**

Watching Mary dance was Marshall's preferred form of hell. It wasn't often that they went out to a club but when they did, Marshall both hated and loved it. So when one of their witnesses suggested a night out, he jumped at the chance. How he had ended up _actually_ out on the dance floor with Mary and Celeste was a mystery to him but he didn't regret dancing with the two beautiful women. Of course, he only saw the one.

She really was the devil. She ground her hips to the beat of the music and drove him to contemplate all sorts of sins. Fire ripped through his veins as she smirked at him under the strobing lights. Marshall danced precariously close to the edge of the pit and that smirk damn near sent him over.

She was a demon when she danced but- when she smiled- it was heaven.


	2. Chapter 2

**11. Arms of An Angel- Sarah McLachlan**

The floor of Eleanor's apartment was closing in fast after Stan shut the door. Hours at the hospital, at the police department, and the hours that were just missing from Stan's memory.

When he hit the floor in a heap, she just wrapped her arms around him and held him as he cried. He couldn't even tell her what had happened. Wracked with grief, he managed to sputter out bits and pieces.

Mary- like the daughter he would have never wanted to raise.

Marshall- his eventual successor and more of a friend than he could have imagined.

Both of them broken in the hospital. One from a bullet and one from grief.

Stan let it all out and Eleanor just held him. Quietly rocking on the floor, they sat until she helped him to the couch. And it was there they stayed until the sun broke over the horizon.

**12. Open Your Eyes- Guano Apes**

The door of the Probe slammed shut hard. The keys were barely in the ignition before the engine roared to life. Screeching as Mary floored it out of her driveway, the Probe swerved as it tried to gain traction. It only took a second for Mary to regain control as she sped down her street.

"Jesus fucking Christ! What the hell is his problem?" Mary ranted to herself as she careened through the residential zones of Albuquerque. "What's so damn difficult about it? It's my job. I'm not quitting. I'm not cutting back on hours. I'm not transferring. And there's no way in hell I'm asking for another partner! When the hell is he just going to accept it?"

Slamming the car to a stop at a red light, Mary realized that he never was.

**13. Hallelujah- Jeff Buckley**

It had been one month since he had moved out but today was the day that Raph finally dropped off his keys. Six weeks after the breakup, the finality of the failed relationship had hit Mary hard. But, in true Mary style, she was going through the stages of grief in rapid fire succession. Half way through a bottle of whiskey while sitting on Marshall's couch, acceptance and relief had hit.

So what if it was over? So what if she never got married? So what if she never had the perfect picket fence life? So fucking what?

She had a job she loved and she had Marshall.

Marshall…

Her partner.

Her best friend.

Her whole fucking world some days.

So when she finished her ranting and raving and moping, Marshall suggested that she celebrate somehow. What had started with some wild dancing on his coffee table had eventually ended up with her in his arms drifting along to the chorus of a song she hadn't heard before but it was suddenly her favorite.

**14. Schadenfreude- Avenue Q**

Marshall's hangover was exacerbated by Mary slamming drawers shut and yelling over to Eleanor when she could have spoken quietly. She seemed to get some kind of sick twisted glee from making him feel worse.

So when she tripped over her own feet and fell on her ass right in front of his desk, Marshall had no remorse as he laughed hysterically.

**15. ****Ma Jeunesse Fout le Camp- Francoise Hardy **

Mary loved long car trips with Marshall. When she pretended to fall asleep, he would pop in one of his eclectic CDs and sing along with whatever was playing. One the long night trips, Mary made sure the CD with the songs in French was on top.

_"I swear_," she thought one night, "_if he ever sings this when he's not driving, I may have to teach him the French that I know."_

**16. The Noose- A Perfect Circle**

Sobriety was difficult. Every day without a drink was a step in the right direction.

But some days…

The bottle of beer was right there. Just within his reach. It was tempting. Especially with the Shannon women fighting again. Around here it was always "Get a job!", "Why are you such a bitch?", or "No wonder I drank!"

It was a wonder that Peter hadn't hit the bottle after staying with them during the remodel. He should have gotten a hotel room. But he could control the urge. It was within his power.

Now if only he could get them to see what they were doing wrong so they could get on the right path. They really needed some direction.

**17. Opera #2- Vitas**

Russians. It was always the fucking Russians.

Mary kicked the garbage can next to her desk and let out a howl of frustration. First Tasha just _had_ to have her boob job right away. Then she did the unthinkable and hooked up with Serg.

Fucking Serg. She didn't ever want to have to think about that douche-nozzle again.

Now Nadia was causing trouble.

The only three Russians in Albuquerque and they made Mary want to nuke the whole damn country. Screaming obscenities, she let her frustrations rip their way out of her throat as Stan prayed that the soundproofing he had added to the office years ago would keep her muted to the rest of the building.

Of course, it didn't help when Marshall interrupted her with, "Actually, Tasha wasn't Russian, remember? She was-"

"Shut your hole before I jam my foot in it."

**18. Bium Bium Bambalo- Sigur Ros**

In Mary's bedroom, it was always fast and hard. Sex was of the headboard slamming, grunting and thrusting, screaming orgasm variety. Quick and dirty- just the way Mary liked it.

But in Marshall's bed, Mary found something different. Slow. Languid. Something to be savored. There was no need to get it over with because no one was getting kicked out of the bed. There was no shame to hide from. There was no guilt.

What there was, was hours of hands drifting over bare skin and long kisses. Whispers in the dark and lips smiling while pressed against each other. A building of something other than frustration. Marshall kept a pace that Mary found irrationally slow at first but…

Now she couldn't think of having it any other way. Hell, she couldn't think in Marshall's bed at all. All she could do was feel. His hands in her hair. His teeth nipping at her bottom lip. Everything constantly moving as though he could never get enough of her. But it wasn't a frantic frenzy of need. It was want. It was desire.

It was love.

**19. Shoots and Ladders- Korn**

There were only a few minutes in the day where Stan could relax. Sadly, those precious minutes were taken up by paperwork, phone calls and more paperwork. The rest of his day… oh dear god. The rest of his day, Stan spent his time breaking up fights.

There were spitball fights, ketchup packet fights and actual physical fights.

He was a chief inspector for the United States Marshal Service and no where in his contract did it state that he was supposed to act like a playground monitor.

Children. He worked with children.

Most of the time Stan gave the appearance of sheer annoyance. He acted like those two were the source of all aggravation in his life. He yelled and scolded. He mediated their fights with obvious irritation.

There was no way in hell that he was ever going to tell them that he loved every minute of it.

**20. Re: Your Brains- Jonathan Coulton**

They were supposed to be cleaning out Zack's apartment but Mary and Marshall got distracted by his video game collection. Having never played first person shooters, Mary got a real thrill from the pixilated violence. After two hours, she was completely hooked.

"I swear to god- if the zombie apocalypse does happen, I'm never going to a damn hospital." Mary cursed at the screen as she threw down the controller. Once again, a boomer had exploded on her- bringing on the zombie hordes- and Marshall had only escaped by jumping out the window to the ledge where he could shoot them down one by one.

"Don't worry Mare. You'll get rezzed as soon as I snipe this group. And I don't understand how you die so much. Zoey gets bandaged more than anyone else."

The phone ringing distracted Mary from whatever retort she was about to spit Marshall's way. Stan's name popped up on the caller ID and Mary ignored it. Killing zombies was much more fun than paperwork and conference table strategy sessions.


	3. Chapter 3

**21. Better Man - Pearl Jam**

When Mary heard Raph's distinctive footsteps coming down the hall, she rolled over and pretended to sleep. I wasn't that she didn't want to see him but, at the same time, she really didn't want him here. The hospital was bad enough without having to argue with her fiancé about what had gotten her here in the first place.

He was a good man but he just didn't understand that the job was important to her. And maybe she didn't need a good man. Maybe she didn't deserve one. Or maybe she just need a good man who was bad enough to keep up with her.

**  
****22. Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield**

Mary stared down at the blank piece of paper lying innocently on Marshall's table. She was here, against all sane thought, to get his help in writing her vows. Brandi, Jinx and Raph had all tried to help her but the words that they had suggested were just wrong. They were sappy and sweet and completely abhorrent to Mary's ears. So she was here at Marshall's to find the right words.

"Gah- why is this so hard?" Mary's hands crumpled the paper and only Marshall's hand on her shoulder kept her from throwing the paper across the room again.

Setting down the coffee he had gotten for them, he smoothed out the paper for the third time that day, "Why don't you just start with something simple and revise it as you go."

"Because everything I think that would sound right for a wedding is a bunch of shit that I don't believe and I'm not going to lie while standing in front of the alter." Mary snorted at the thought of talking about love lasting_ forever_ and obeying _anyone_.

"Just say 'I love Raph because he's blah blah whatever' and figure out the blah blah part later," Marshall suggested.

Toying with the edge of the paper, Mary kept her eyes firmly locked on to a spot on the table, "It's the first part of that sentence that I'm having problems with."

**  
****23. First Time - Lifehouse**

The dance lessons were supposed to be for Mary and Raph but Mary's job had interfered so Brandi had decided to fill in for her sister. The first time she danced with Raph, it felt so right despite everything in her brain that shrieked how wrong it was.

Brandi never was one to go with her brain when her feelings told her something else.

**  
****24. Follow Me - Uncle Kracker**

Raph remembered the first moment he had seen Mary. She had been throwing back beers in some dive of a bar surrounded by a group of men who were failing at trying to keep up with her. It hadn't been hard to convince her that the rest of those guys weren't anything compared to him. Less than an hour later, she was following him out the door.

When he woke up the next morning, he was surprised to find that he had wished that she hadn't snuck out.

A year later, he woke up in her bed and, upon seeing that she had snuck out again, he realized that the first night he had met her was the only time she had followed him anywhere.

**  
****25. Into the Ocean - Blue October**

Sometimes Mary wished she had figured out how to be the river. At best, she had figured out the metaphorical way to belly flop into the ocean. It really was too bad she didn't know how to swim through jello because that's what it felt like was inside her head these days.

Hrm… Jello…

Scrambling off her bed, Mary ran to her closet and started rummaging though it. Up on the top shelf- way in the back- she found it. Holding the cheap little wrestling trophy up triumphantly, all she could think was, '_I can't wait to show Marshall this._'

**  
****26. What's Left of the Flag - Flogging Molly**

It was raining the day they buried Marshall Mann. Mary stood quietly throughout the service and only moved to shrug Raph's hand off her shoulder. She hadn't spoken a word since she had gotten the news three days previous and no one had seen a sign of emotion on her face. She didn't even look when they handed her the folded up flag that had been draped over his coffin.

She was as still as a statue when the casket was lowered but when everyone else had walked away, Mary sank to the ground and cried as her world ended.

**  
****27. Into the Night - Santana featuring Chad Kruger**

The truck had been fine the entire trip but somewhere between point B and point Albuquerque, the engine decided to stall out and die. Figuring Mary would be pissed, Marshall reached for his phone the minute the truck was on the side of the road.

Mary was looking out the window as she reached over to grab the phone from him. Sliding out of the truck, she gestured for him to follow her. They stopped a few yards away and stared at the full moon over the desert landscape.

With a small smirk on her face, Mary looked over at him and asked, "Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

**  
****28. Someday - Nickelback**

Raph hated it that Mary clenched her fists when they fought. She'd never hit him but the sight of her physical reaction to simple words bothered him. They fought. Every couple fought. So what? They'd make up and figure things out if she could just learn to compromise.

Of course, it was usually his job to compromise. And as hard as that was to cope with, Raph was positive that someday they'd get this all worked out. She'd change, right?

**  
****29. Desire - Ryan Adams**

The guns were holstered, the statements taken and the perps were cuffed in the backseat of a cruiser. But the adrenaline was still pumping and Mary couldn't figure out why. The fight was over and it was time to calm down and give Marshall some crap about that superman stunt he had pulled over.

She couldn't believe that he had been stupid enough to do that- it was something that _she_ would have done. Although- it had been fun to watch. Not really. Not at the time. At the time she was stunned. But now?

Looking over at her partner, Mary felt her heartbeat speed up some more and wondered what the hell was going on with her.

**  
****30. Fast Car - Tracy Chapman**

Mark's car sped around the curves of the road that weaved through the Appalachian mountains. He had promised her a weekend of roller coasters but this was much better. He was careening around the hilly roads with Mary half out the broken sunroof and grinning like she had been handed the world.

She was addicted to the speed- to the danger- to the uncertainty- and, as she clutched onto the rusted roof, Mary wished her whole life could be like this. No albatross mother dragging her down. No little sister that needed to be taken care of. Just the freedom of freefall.

Preferably without the crash at the end.


End file.
